Michael O'Hanlon on our lost 4000
By John Amato Sunday Mar 23, 2008 5:25pm
Much of the media seems to think that his opinion matters.
"It's not going to be seen as a major symbolic plateau or new milestone, it's just going to be a new reminder of the grim toll of war,"---Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution---TODAY Show---03/24/08
What's a few here or there, right Michael? I doubt he'll ever be too concerned with the innocent Iraqis caught up in this war either. I forgot to say f*&k you too. Oh, I was so un-serious right there, did you see?
UPDATE: O’Hanlon Gripes About His Waning Influence: I Now Get ‘Less Than One’ Interview Request Per Day
F*&k You two times.
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It's amazing that the librul media fawns over these reich-wingnuts.
O’Hanlon: Surge architects are the ‘Vince Lombardis’ of Iraq war.
I guess it's easy to say this when it's someone else's life,family....etc
This is just so heartbreaking.
Honestly, his point is valid. Is there anybody out there, currently for the war, who will now turn against it because we hit 4,000? No. That 4,000th death will change the lives of the people who knew that soldier just as the 3,999th and the 3,998th. It's unlikely that it will change the political landscape. It's unlikely that now with a big round number, the Republicans will suddenly decide, "hey maybe we should get out of here before we hit 5,000". They didn't balk at 1,000, 2,000, or 3,000, I can't imagine this will change things.
http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gen/15983/original.jpg
Meanwhile, W says that U.S. deaths in Iraq have "laid the foundations for peace for generations to come."
Nice.... American men and women (not to mention the innocent Iraqis) used as bricks and mortar for George and Dick's Excellent Adventure.
Fucking pathetic. (Pardon my language.)
"...Fred and Ken who have been two of the most important people. Andy Krepinevich is another important think tanker. Retired Gen. Jack Keane from the outside. A small group of people inside the administration, smaller than it should have been, but people like Meghan O’Sullivan."
May they and their evil neo-con cabalist war supporters BURN IN HELL!
http://www.robert-fisk.com/bloodied_child_3.jpg
Dr. Hussein Matt @ 2:
Yeah, they could be compared to Lombardi, by psychopaths who compare war to a game and warmongers to football coaches.
I think I'm starting to see why John is so pissed.
Just a (bigger) number.
Heartless Bastard's take on the 4000th troop death of his causing
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Politics/story?id=4513250&page=1
Steve @ 5:
Yep. To them, it's like a game of Risk, Stratego or chess. Just numbers. Just plastic pieces on cardboard.
Tonight on PBS-
For 4 1/2 hours, PBS' 'Frontline' examines, explains 'Bush's War'
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bal-to.bush24mar24,0,5238403.s...
that breaks down to 800 a year, but who's counting? It's not like its some kind of tragedy or anything. It's not anyone who is anyone knows these people. Hell, no one here is having to sacrifice for this war. What's all the belly aching about. Go out and buy something. That's the sacrifice we can make. That is how we can support our troops.
For those of you unaccustomed to sarcasm, that was it.
"I forgot to say f*&k you too. Oh, I was so un-serious right there, did you see?"
Thanks for that one statement. It captures my feelings exactly.
foolme1ns @ 14:
Yeah, all 4000 enjoyed the envy of their commander in chief who holds the most romantic view of war. Darn, I wish he really could join them in their adventure!
I catch your sarcasm and wish to add how repulsive I find the CinC's ridiculous claims that he wishes he could fight the battle alongside them. So insulting!
And I forget how many of those 4000 died after "Mission Accomplished"?
Something over 90%?
anyone know exactly?
This 4,000 doesn't tell the entire story. This number doesn't include the following
145: Died of Self-Inflicted wounds
4: Missing or Captured
20,416: Wounded - No Medical Air Transport Required
8,904: Wounded - Medical Air Transport Required
23,052: Diseases/Other Medical - Medical Air Transport Required
40,229: MEDICAL AIR TRANSPORTS (HOSTILE AND NON-HOSTILE)
-- IN IRAQ --
30,000 IRAQI TROOPS KILLED
and 90,000 SERIOUSLY INJURED Aug. 2003
785,957 IRAQI CIVILIANS KILLED
and 1,414,723 SERIOUSLY INJURED June 2007
3,615 U.S. TROOPS KILLED
and 50,677 SERIOUSLY INJURED June 2007
287 OTHER COALITION TROOPS KILLED
and 861 SERIOUSLY INJURED June 2007
160 U.S. CIVILIANS KILLED
and 288 SERIOUSLY INJURED June 2007
251 OTHER COALITION CIVILIANS KILLED
and 452 SERIOUSLY INJURED June 2007
-- IN AFGHANISTAN --
8,587 AFGHAN TROOPS KILLED
and 25,761 SERIOUSLY INJURED July 2004
3,485 AFGHAN CIVILIANS KILLED
and 6,273 SERIOUSLY INJURED July 2004
342 U.S. TROOPS KILLED
and 1,026 SERIOUSLY INJURED Jan. 2007
278 OTHER COALITION TROOPS KILLED
and 834 SERIOUSLY INJURED June 2007
? U.S. and COALITION CIVILIANS KILLED
and ? SERIOUSLY INJURED
When people start getting drafted then it will end. But thats not going to happen because Bush and his Nixon administration got wise to it.
If the Democrats don't do something about this before November, they will own this blood bath.
L.A. Confidential @ 19:
Yep, lessons learned from VN war: no draft and no casket photos.
That's why we pay the big bucks to blackwater.
Thanks for the stats, Dr., pretty sobering.
Dr. Hussein Matt @ 18:
Thank you...
all these fucking gop wankers should
have a hood pulled over their heads and
then renditioned to iraq's front line for combat
or just leave them in an open iraqi market to
fend for themselves. i bet they would shit in
their pants in less than a minute.
fuck these insensitive reichwingneocon wankers
You have no idea how enraged I become at these people. When I heard Cheney say "So" about the number of American's who feel the war was not worth it. My son is on his second tour in Iraq. He has only been in the military since 2005. He was almost blown up his first tour. The truck in front of him hit an IED and all the kids were killed. I am a USMC vet. I have 2 kids serving. I have a daughter in the Navy and my son is in the Marines. You don't know how bad it is to be happy that it isn't your kid that was killed knowing it is someone else's family that will get the knock on the door. The guilt that comes with that relief is sometimes unbearable. These war criminals need to be punished. I can't say what I would like to see happen to them in a public forum such as this. But I'm sure some of you get the idea. I have hated this war since before it started. This administration is full of pathological liars and they are traitors to their country and the Constitution. They should not go unpunished. Even if it has to wait until Jan 2009. The congress should be ashamed that they don't have the spine to even live up to their oath to uphold the Constitution. They are complicit in the crimes of these people with their silence and their yellow streaks.
If you want to be taken seriously as a news source, maybe stop using profanity in the blurbs you write.
fubar @ 24:
Fubar: thank you for writing this and sharing it here and now. I was going to flippantly reply to all the statistics by quoting Cheney's So? and I'm glad I didn't because I see it pissedand outraged everyone as much as it did me.
I cannot say I feel your pain, I do not have family in the military serving Iraq. But I can imagine that you DO have pain, I can imagine that families are hurting. Quite a lot and it's not what anyone signed up for. and I can imagine that your pain must be an infinite multiple of the rage and frustration I feel. Which is a loathing related to how a woman who finds out her daughter dated Ted Bundy. One such mother threw up nonstop upon learning Bundy was a serial killer. and somehow spared her daughter. The horror is relentless. It must stop.
We are not safe because of this stupid insane war. We are worse off and not only that, I cannot stand being complicit in Bush/Cheney criminality.
NishNish @ 25:
Fuck you.
NishNish @ 25:
How's not using profanity or facts working out?
NishNish @ 25:
Or change your name to "Talon News Service"
This 'NEWS' stuff is easy when you just pull shit outta yer ass!
WSJ defends discredited claims of Saddam-al Qaeda ‘collaboration.’
Saw this coming when Uncle Rupert took over. The WSJ has been Foxed!
A war with no end in sight and no attainable goals, which O'Hanlon continues to flack for by comparing it to a football game.
I just want to second what John said. Fuck you, Michael. Fuck you very much. Twice.
Boy, there are times I am glad I don't watch the media, especially Faux. I get so mad I want to beat them somethin speechless. There is no war you muttonheaded twit. It is an occupation. It isn't a war. Every time one of these assclowns pulls crap out like that, they should be bitchslapped with a leather belt across their noodles until they admit, hey you're right, it's an occupation not a war.
Don't know how were going to stop Bush and his Nixon Crew from wrecking the planet at this point.
Ahhhhhh!!! It's raining f-bombs!!
I am so sick as this vain, stupid ass**les. And how dare he invoke Lombardi. Michael O'Hanlon and his ilk are the Michael Browns of foreign policy.
Um, make that "sick of these"...
Get your ribbons while supplies last: Endless War
Let me add to the Don't list for Bush's War:
1. Don't show pictures of caskets coming home. check.
2. Don't use the draft. check.
and
3. Don't define your objective.
That way we can never win, only lose! = endless war! check.
OHanlons the worst of the worst. At least most of the swine of the bush/cheney reich own their complicity. He tries to pretend he has some independence. No sorry you are on a short leash to your masters The Lords of War.
Let's not forget the other odious Democratic hawks that made this war possible and have continued to enable this disasterand tragedy. Of course there is Liebercrap, a reminder of just where AIPAC and fascists meet. There is Daalder, and Slaughter and Beinart and let us never forget the DLC and Harold Ford.
I think what he's saying is true, 4000 deaths will not be seen as a "major symbolic plateau or new milestone" and that's the terrible part. People are forgetting about the war and I think it will take many more deaths for people to wake up to the terrible things going on in Iraq. It's easy to yell at this guy O'Hanlon for trivializing 4000 deaths, but it's America as a whole that is doing the actually trivializing. This guy is just pointing it out.
F&*% you 3 times
It pisses me off when people use the word milestone to describe this. This is not a point worth getting to. History will repeat itself ladies and gentlemen. So many lives wasted and for what? This looks more and more like nam. We have a crook in office (bush) (late 60s it was Nixon) the war is getting more and more unpopular and there is no end in sight. Where is the congress in all of this? Oh, wait, they're investigating steroid use in sports. We need to do something as a country or this will get out of hand.
John Amato,
"F*&k You two times."
I'm surprised by your tag line!? A man like Michael O’Hanlon deserves no less than one hundred.
not even a douchebag
just a douche!
4,000 dead U.S. troops is a grim milestone, but, sadly, many Americans find the number tolerable compared to much higher figures during previous wars such as Vietnam. However, these people, and the media which are doing an abysmal job covering the Iraq War, often forget an equally tragic and much larger number -- 30,000 or more -- of our troops wounded in Iraq. Many of these wounded troops would have been killed in wars past, but their lives were saved due to advances in medical technology. Nevertheless, many of them have been horribly maimed, have lost limbs, have suffered brain injuries, mental and emotional scars, and more. I wonder if Americans would act differently if the numbers were reversed and a lot of the wounded soldiers had been killed instead. Merely answering poll questions saying that they are opposed to the war and wouldn't it be nice if our troops came home sometime soon doesn't seem to be a very passionate reaction by most Americans.
Its not a fuckin milestone you hoe. Thats somethin that we as americans should look at and it should make rethink our opinions on this war and our government. What the fuck was those lives lost for? Can anyone tell me cause I cant find a reasonable explaination when President Bush speaks.
Normally, I don't make comments about peoples' physical appearance.
Except when it comes to Fux.
If this guy's eyes were any closer together, he'd be a cyclops.
Can anyone answer my fuckin question? President Bush cant. Why did those 4000 brave americans have to die?
this coward punk looks young enough to go on patrol in an iraqi city.
Honestly, O'Hanlon's judgment throughout the Iraq War has been quite misguided, but this statement is right on. There is no difference between the 4,000th soldier to die in Iraq and those before him or her. They are all tragedies. This milestone won't change policy and is unlikely to change people's minds one way or the other about the war.
Now I don't feel so bad about using the F-word. Mr. Amato has used it twice. Sometimes ya just gotta!! (Like I'm holding back in my 'battle' with "Idahodad1" at YouTube. Right-wing toolbox; told me to get a hobby and cheer up-- oh joy. War with Iran or stamp collecting? The big question.)
53 Edwin Hussein (not a scary black Reverend) Says: Now I don’t feel so bad about using the F-word. Mr. Amato has used it twice.
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Oh fuuudge, only I didn't say the word fudge.
http://www.toastedpixel.com/comic/discobuck.jpg
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